5 Plumbing Tools You Should Have at Home

24 March 2017

Although calling plumbing professionals when you have a problem with your plumbing system is often preferable, many less serious problems can simply be fixed yourself. This could not only save you time, but also money in the long run. Although boiler installation and breakdowns should be left to boiler repair servicing, leaking taps, clogged drains and air pockets in the pipes are all safe to fix yourself with the right equipment and research, and there are certain tools that make fixing these issues a bit easier, which we should all invest in. Here are 5 tools you should have at home to help you with plumbing problems so you don’t have to call plumbing services every time.

1. Toilet Plunger

This is key when it comes to unclogging blocked toilets. They’re very cheap and will stop you from getting your hands dirty. Although you can use a coathanger for unclogging and drain cleaning, purchasing a plunger is a decent long term solution. However, if your drains are clogging regularly, you should consider calling plumbers to look and see if there’s a more serious problem and decide whether toilet repairs need to be carried out.

2. Sink Plunger

Smaller than toilet plungers and just as cheap, these help to unblock clogged drains in your sinks. Simply fill the sink with water in order to create a suction to extract the blockage. Alternatively, you can purchase a drain unblocker, which will seek out and eliminate blockages further down the pipe line.

To avoid future sink blockages and potential sink repairs, make sure you don’t pour food, fat or hair down your sinks. Only use your sink to dispose of water.

3. Screwdriver

Having a screwdriver around the house is always handy. You can use it to carry out all sorts of DIY all over your house. As most screws are different sizes, it’s worth investing in a good set so that you can change the heads depending on your needs. When it comes to plumbing, you can also use a screwdriver for a number of things, especially when it comes to changing and installing fixtures. For example, you can use the screwdriver to remove the headgear on taps in order to replace the washer and fix a leak.

4. Wrench/Basin Wrench

As with the screwdriver, it’s always useful to have a wrench around the house. This can be used to loosen and undo nuts, especially when changing taps or tighten valves. Having a set around the house is a wise investment.

Basin wrenches are extremely helpful when it comes to DIY plumbing. When you’re removing taps from a basin, you have to start by undoing the nuts underneath. This area is particularly hard to get to with a normal wrench as it’s usually a confined space and getting at the right angle to get enough leverage to undo the nut is almost impossible. A basin wrench is angled at the end so that you can loosen the nut with reasonable ease.

5. Box Spanner

Similar to the basin wrench, this tubular spanner allows you to get up underneath the sink and feed any piping through the middle in order to loosen nuts at the base of the tap. As with any spanner, you can get this in a range of shapes and size, so buying a kit could be useful if you find yourself carrying out a lot of plumbing work at home.